


Starlord

by SocialJusticeGM



Series: A Bunch of A-Holes [1]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Arguing, Gen, Post-Movie(s), Tags Contain Possible Spoilers, Team Dynamics, Vacation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-25
Updated: 2014-09-11
Packaged: 2018-02-16 23:33:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2288699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SocialJusticeGM/pseuds/SocialJusticeGM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An on-going story detailing the adventures of the Guardians starting a few months after the film.  This is just so I can have fun writing about them.  I've got a rough idea of where I want this story to go.  The beginning of the story has the Guardians taking a bit of vacation to learn to deal with each other when not being shot at by enemies.  I want to update fairly regularly.</p><p>The tags describe what is in the story right now.  I will add more as I add to the story.  Some archive warnings will have to be added eventually, so don't forget to look at the tags.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starlord

“Again with the fake laughing!  We all know it’s fake!  Everyone here thinks you’re insane!”  Peter Quill was screaming at the top of his lungs.

“My sides are aching from this real, genuine laughter, and there is nothing you can say to prove me wrong!”  Rocket sneered at Quill, goading him on.

“I am Groot.” said Groot hushedly, sticking a hand out in between the two.

“What for?” Rocket turned towards Groot.  “What?  Am I gonna wake up the neighbors?  We’re on a fuckin’ space ship surrounded by space for a hundred thousand goddamn miles!”

Groot was already focusing on the other conversation he was trying to diffuse; trying to get Gamora’s and Drax’s attention by desperately waving his hand between them, rooted firmly in his pot.  Gamora was shaking one of her weapons at Drax, “No, you listen you oaf, these are not mere swords to be waved about in the manner of a baton twirler!  They are precision instruments—“

“Nothing I do is in the manner of a baton twirler!” Retorted Drax, angrily, “I am a warrior and I know how to wield swords without damaging them.  A baton twirler would likely injure theirself with such a weapon.”

“Yeah, but you can’t just take other people’s stuff man,” Peter said, focusing now on Drax, “it’s not cool.”

“You’re one to talk after taking away my bomb Quill, I’m making supplies for all of us and you just want it for yourself.” Rocket gestured to the blinking contraption in Quill’s hands.

“You were making it out of my engine.” Said Peter, incredulously, gesturing towards an open panel exposing the inner workings of the ship.

“Your tinkering could kill us all, little beast.” Gamora spit out the words with little thought.  Rocket growled and put his hand on the butt of his gun.

Quill stuck out a hand towards him, “Hey, hey, cool it.”  He looked at Gamora, “Don’t call him that man.”

Rocket took his hand of his weapon, letting the insult slide, “I think I’ve shown pretty well that I know my shit when it comes to explosives and engines.”  Peter nodded at Gamora, shrugging. It was pretty true.

Gamora relaxed, “I apologize.  Still, both of you should learn to keep your hands off other people’s possessions.”  She pointed to Rocket and then to Drax, who seemed to have drifted off.  She gritted her teeth angrily, “Are you even listening Drax?”

Drax came out of his thoughts, “I am still trying to determine what temperature has to do with whether I should examine the possessions of others.”  There was a beat.

Peter threw up his hands, exasperated.  Rocket started yelling again, “Goddamnit you giant dumbass, he doesn’t mean it like that!  No one ever means it like that.”

Quill pushed his hair back, “You have to learn that one, man.  This is like the umpteenth time.”

Drax looked a little angry, “That’s not even a number.”  Rocket groaned loudly in annoyance, but Drax replied harshly, “Do not criticize me when you cannot restrain yourself from violence for just the utterance of a single word.  Beast, vermin, rodent.  If you are none of these things, why do the words anger you?”

Rocket snarled back, “We don’t all lack a basic grasp of figurlative language.”

“Do not ignore me, Drax.” Gamora interrupted, “You have yet to apologize for taking my swords.”

“Gamora, I think these guys are trying to work something out,” Peter said, gesturing towards Rocket and Drax.

Gamora rounded on Peter, “Do not speak!  You are just as guilty, I have seen you pilfering from each of our bunks.”

Peter realized somewhere in his head that he was probably in the wrong here, but he was already all riled up, “I was just looking around, do I need to remind you whose ship you’re on?”

“No,” said Drax, “I am perfectly aware that I am surrounded by criminals: a thief, two thugs, and an assassin.  I am just now starting to realize how bad a choice it was.”

“Hey meathead, you were in jail with the rest of us, so don’t go all high and mighty now, Mister Multiple Murder Counts.” Rocket bared his teeth, internally regretting the alliteration.

“My family—“ Started Drax.

“We all had families once Drax, except those of us who never did!” said Gamora.

“How dare you?!” yelled Drax with a deep rumble.

“She’s right man, you can’t act like some lone hero, we all had our reasons,” Peter’s face hardened.  There was a moment of silence.

Rocket piped up, “Yeah, well—“

“I AM GROOT!”

The interior of the ship echoed with the surprisingly large voice.  It was the loudest sound Groot had made since he had started his regeneration.  Everybody shut up, staring at the sapling, who was only a little larger than Rocket at this point.  Gamora left the room without a word, headed for the bunks.  Drax yanked a chair from under the table and sat facing the corner of the common room while Rocket cursed under his breath and climbed up into the cockpit.  Peter just stood there, looking at Groot.  The young tree’s face was still younger than it used to be, but at the moment it had an unmistakably angry visage.  Peter looked over at Drax to verify that he had entered whatever brainspace he goes to when he ignores everything around him.

Satisfied, he focused on Groot, “You okay buddy?”  Peter didn’t have Rocket’s weird connection to the tree-being, but he knew that he had never seen Groot like this before.

“I am Groot.”  Groot grumbled in an unmistakably accusatory tone.

Peter was pretty sure that the argument was at least eighty percent not his fault, and he considered voicing this opinion.  Still, he had once promised to keep an eye on these guys, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”  He sighed.  That promise probably made him some sort of leader, he supposed.  At the very least, his ownership of the _Milano_ made him captain or whatever.  “I don’t know man; I’m not the HR department.  I don’t have the first idea of what it takes to make everyone happy.  We’re making money.”  What Peter said was true, they had taken ten jobs since defeating Ronan.  Each paid in excess of 200,000 units, and most of them were, strictly speaking, legal.  They had been working nonstop with no problems.  It seemed to Quill that it was only now that they had some time to rest that they started fighting so much. “Fuck.”

“I am Groot.” said Groot in a matter-of-fact, sagely kind of way.  Peter was pulled out of his thoughts and gave Groot a strange look.

He shrugged, “Okay, I feel like you’re giving me some incredible advice or something, so we’re going to go talk to Rocket first.”  Peter picked him up by the pot and climbed up into the cockpit.

Up there, Rocket sat alone on the ground, pulling at various internal wires of one of the consoles used to control the _Milano_.  Peter stuck his hand out but forced down the complaint with just a stifled whine.  “What the fuck you want, Quill?” Rocket didn’t look up from his work.

Peter gathered his maturity, put Groot down, and spoke, “Hey Rocket, uh, whatcha doin’?”  He tried to sound as innocuous and non-accusatory as possible, not wanting to start another argument.

Rocket grumbled, “I’m making a replacement for that engine part.”

“Oh,” Peter was surprised; he had to admit it wasn’t the most vital of parts, even though he was pretty mad.  The _Milano_ had always been his baby.  “I, uh, thanks.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rocket waved a hand non-committally at Peter.  He expertly pulled the frame of the console and inspected the parts inside.  “I mean, you never know when we’ll need to make a 360 degree or greater turn while hovering above a planet.  Plus, this ship doesn’t have a cloaking device so this panel wasn’t doin’ shit.”

Peter had always wondered what that panel was for.  The ship had been stripped pretty bare when he first got it.  “Hey, here’s your bomb back.  Sorry I took it.”  He set it near Rocket’s seat and then sat in the copilot’s chair.  The raccoon grunted.

There was a long silence as Rocket rifled through the innards of the panel.  Rewiring stuff to bypass the console and pulling out various parts.  Peter fidgeted in the awkward silence and considered just leaving.

“I am Groot.”

Rocket didn’t even look at Groot and just growled in annoyance, “Talk about what, I’m over it.  We’re good, right Quill?”

For a moment, Peter thought he was off the hook.  Then an image of Rhomann Dey flashed through his head, and against his better judgment, Peter decided not to take the easy way out.  “No, we should probably talk.”

Rocket groaned, “What do you want to talk about?  You want me to apologize?  Cause… actually, I am kinda sorry, but don’t let it go to your head.”

Peter nodded, “Yeah, me too.  It’s just the _Milano_ , you know, she’s been my ship for years now.  She was my first, well, not just ship, but my first thing.  Besides this,” he tapped the Walkman on his belt, “the _Milano_ was the first thing all my own.”

“Yeah, I don’t need your life story.”  Rocket yanked a cable out of the console.  Quill grimaced a little.

“I am Groot.”  Groot chided Rocket for his callousness.

The raccoon hung his head and turned around, “Sorry.  It’s just, you know, idle hands.”  He raised his hands briefly before installing the cable in the makeshift device in his hands, “I got one thing Quill, and this is it.”  Rocket briefly ran his hands over his creation and then tossed it to Peter, who set it down gently.  “I don’t know.  I’ll, uh, I’ll try to stop takin’ your ship apart.”

Peter nodded, “Thanks.”  He buried his face in his hands, “We need a job.”

“I am Groot.”

Peter looked at Groot, and then to Rocket.  “Groot disagrees,” said Rocket matter-of-factly.

“I am Groot,” Groot said with a grin that made it look like he had said the smartest thing ever.

Rocket nodded in agreement until he noticed Peter staring blankly at him, “Groot thinks we should take some time off.”

Peter shrugged, “Sure.  I mean, we have enough units.”  They were set for a while if they were conservative.  Of course, if they took a vacation, it might not last as long.  Still, maybe spending some time out of the ship in a low-stress environment would help team dynamics, or some shit.  Peter wasn’t sure.  He was pretty much making it up as he went along.

“I’ll set a course for Knowhere.  We can drink and gamble all these units away.”  Rocket was putting the finishing touches on the panel, so it would look good as new, albeit with no functionality.

Peter was looking at his wallet display, making some quick calculations.  “You know what?  Set a course for Xandar instead.  I think we can afford it.”

Rocket looked at Peter critically, “Xandar, what are we gonna do there?  Take a bus tour?”  He still didn’t like Xandar, full of civilians living normal lives.  He shuddered at the thought, “Can’t we go somewhere at least a little interesting?”

Peter shrugged and lay back in his seat.  “I’m new to this whole leadership thing,” Rocket snorted, and Peter responded with a squint, “I’m new to this leadership thing, but I think Groot has a point: we have to learn to get along when there isn’t any action.”  Peter spoke with a bit of a waver in his voice, “I don’t know, maybe our own rooms and a pool will help.”  Rocket looked unconvinced.  “I’ll buy you a fission battery,” said Quill, “Plus, maybe we can get you some actual decent parts to work with.”

“Fine,” Rocket started to input Xandar’s coordinates, “You’ve convinced me, but Gamora and the big guy won’t be ecstastic about this either.”  Peter groaned before getting up and headed for the stairs.

Before descending the stairs he turned back, cursing himself for deciding to suddenly become a responsible leader. “Hey, Rocket.”  The Raccoon grunted in acknowledgement. “What Drax said, what Gamora said.  They were both out of line.”  Rocket just nodded without turning.  Peter thought he saw Rocket’s grip tighten around the wheel, but he just wasn’t ready tackle that one.

Climbing down into the common room, he noticed Drax just staring into the wall still.  He had to admit, for a maniac, the guy had a certain zen about him.  “Hey, Drax,” Peter picked up one of the chairs around the large table he had put in here after getting such a big crew.

“Quill, for what reason have you disturbed my meditation?  I have found that it helps contain my anger.”

He set down his chair near Drax’s and sat down, “You look pretty calm to me.  Anyway, we need to talk.  You’re not about to kill anyone, are you?”

Drax shook his head, “I am not angry enough to forget that I have bonded with you all as friends.  I am sorry that my behavior has worried you this way. I sincerely regret it.”

“Eh, I wasn’t too worried.”  Peter was content to sit there in silence for a second.  He never much liked silence, but something about Drax’s presence took any awkwardness away.  “Oh,” he recovered from his dreamy state, “We’re headed to Xandar.”

For a moment, Peter thought Drax would take issue.  “Very well, does the Nova Corps have work for us?”  Drax asked.

“Well,” Peter started, “not exactly.  But, we will be vacationing.”  He gave the word some jazz hands for effect, “Huh?  How does that sound?”

“I look forward to this respite.”

Now that, Peter smiled, was refreshingly easy.  There was still the matter of apologies though, “I think you should talk to Gamora, apologize for touching her swords.  Also, you really owe Rocket an apology.  He doesn’t show it, but I think he’s really sensitive about those names.”

Drax looked at Peter with a blank face.  After a moment of consideration, he nodded, “I trust your judgment, friend Quill.  I am confused, but I understand that Gamora was offended when I picked up her weapons.”  He turned and stared at the wall.  Peter nodded and got up, that was also refreshingly easy to deal with.  He started to leave before Drax spoke up, “Still, I am unsure of the reason for Rocket’s anger.  When someone calls him ‘animal’ or ‘vermin,’ he does not correct them.  He just threatens and often harms them.  Does he or does he not consider himself these things?”

Peter closed his eyes and threw his head back with a sigh.  He was pretty sure the answer to Drax’s question had to do with how Rocket felt about himself, and that territory was still far outside Quill’s comfort zone.  Had he not just admitted to not being ready to deal with this issue?  “Maybe you should talk to him about it,” Peter stifled a laugh.  That was a suicide-mission.

“Very well,” said Drax, standing up and heading to the stairs.

Peter’s eyes bulged, “Wait, don’t you think he might get a little mad about it?  You can’t think I was serious.”

Drax eyed him, “I have no reason to suspect deception.”  The truth is, Peter _really_ didn’t want to talk to Drax about Rocket right now.  Plus, Groot was up in the cockpit.

“Shit, whatever.  Go for it, I guess.”  Drax didn’t respond as he began up into the cockpit.  Peter had been pretty responsible today, so what if he wasn’t up for dealing with this one.  It would be fine, probably.

In the meantime, he had other issues to deal with.  There wasn’t a door separating the common room from the bunks.  Only the curtain kept him from seeing into the small room.  Parting it, he saw Gamora sitting on her bunk.

“Hey,” Peter said, sitting on his own bunk across from hers.  She nodded at him, continuing to perform some kind of maintenance on her blade. He clicked his tongue against his teeth awkwardly and briefly surveyed his tape deck before continuing hesitantly, “So… we’re headed to Xandar.”  He was hoping she would take the news as well as Drax.

Her eyes narrowed, dashing his hopes, “Why?  Do the Nova Corps have work for us?”  He was hoping she had heard him discuss this with Drax, but apparently the humming of the ship had prevented her from hearing their quiet conversation.

“Well, not exactly.  Groot thought it would be a good idea for us to take a vacation there.”  Peter reasoned that it was mostly true.

Gamora eyed him suspiciously, “So we will be staying for a while?  We need to rest already?”

Peter thought quickly, something he was quite good at, “Well, you know.  Groot’s a little guy still.  I figure he needs a nice planet with two suns to bask in.”

Gamora nodded, “Very well, he has been recovering quite slowly.”  Peter thought she should cut the guy some slack.  He had, after all, exploded into a thousand pieces after giving his life to save them.  He didn’t say anything though, not wanting to jinx his incredible luck getting his crew to agree to a rather frivolous trip to Xandar.

There was an uneasy silence as Gamora stared at her sword intensely.  “You know, I’m pretty sure if he broke it, you would have noticed.”  Peter spoke up, partially out of his hatred of silence.  Gamora glared at him, about to snap.  “Sorry,” he said, “just running my mouth.  Still, I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by taking it.”  Gamora stared at him expectantly, like a teacher waiting for the correct answer.  Peter sighed, “And furthermore, I’m sorry.  I shouldn’t have looked through your stuff.  It’s a… force of habit.”  Her eyes narrowed, “But that doesn’t excuse my actions.  It won’t happen again.”

Gamora seemed satisfied, and deigned to respond, “I hope not.”  She focused on her sword for a moment before looking up, “How well do you know Xandar?”  Peter squinted, shaking his hand back and forth.  She nodded, “There is a resort called the Desert Jewel.  It is far away from the Nova Corps headquarters and is very extravagant.”

Peter was really curious how she knew about the resort, but he guessed that now probably wasn’t the best time to ask.  “You should talk to Drax.  You know he doesn’t really get why you’re annoyed, but he’ll listen.  And Rocket too, you know, the names thing, I think he needs the apology.”

Gamora put down her knife and gave an almost imperceptible nod to Peter.  She quietly lay down on her bed, propping her head up with her hands.  Peter got up and wandered back into the common area.  He was really regretting getting caught looking through Gamora’s stuff.  He really had just been looking in Rocket’s stuff for a part he was missing, but he got carried away.  With the Ravagers you always had to grab what you could when no one was looking. You had to steal from everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was never beta-read, and I'm sure it shows. If you notice a problem - be it a canon problem, an english problem, or a quality problem - let me know.


End file.
